A Letter From HE Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche

— 4 December 2011

 

Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche

Hello Everyone,

I am delighted that the long-awaited Lotus Garden tree project is now well underway. I think it is wonderful that Lotus Garden will now have more trees and all of us will have the opportunity to dedicate trees to our teachers, family members and loved ones.

Kyabje Mindrolling Trichen often spoke about the wonderful benefits of planting trees. He said it was a very skillful method of more active engagement in virtuous activity instead of simply being very cerebral and self-absorbed. He used to joke that it is all very nice to send out good thoughts and breath to all sentient beings but sometimes it is better to plant a tree or bush or clean and fix things of public usage such as roads and bridges. So I am very pleased that Lotus Garden has come forward with such projects and that our sangha is involved in these meritorious activities.

It makes me doubly happy that 2011 saw us come together to do two of the things considered by so many masters as vastly beneficial actions. Earlier this year we got together to improve the road on the land which has already made a big difference to all who come to this practice land.

And now towards the end of this year, we are taking our active engagement with the environment even further and are all coming together to plant these trees which will hopefully be there long after we are all gone to still serve all who come to land drawn by the precious Buddhadharma.

We would like to thank everyone who has already sponsored a tree or trees. Your generosity will be truly beneficial for generations and will bring joy and serenity to many. I would also like to thank Mr. Britton Bosarge and Chris Jarmon who have both headed and taken care of this huge project and without whom we would not have been able to do this amount of work so easily.

Both Jetsunla and I like this poem by His Holiness the Dalai Lama very much and today we want to share this with all of you. His Holiness' concern for the environment and his endeavors towards the preservation of our natural resources is widely renowned and so this beautiful, heartfelt poem is a real inspiration for all of us to be that much more aware not just in front of our teacher or the shrine or in the shrineroom but everywhere in how we relate to the environment and care of that which sustains all of us.

Jetsunla and I send you all our best of wishes and prayers.

KR

The Sheltering Tree of Interdependence

1. O Lord Tathagata
Born of the lksvakus tree
Peerless One
Who, seeing the all-pervasive nature
Of interdependence
Between the environment and sentient beings
Samsara and Nirvana
Moving and unmoving
Teaches the world out of compassion
Bestow your kindness upon us.

2. O the Savior
The one called Avalokitesvara
Personifying the body of compassion
Of all Buddhas
We supplicate you to ripen
And fruition us to observe reality
Free of all illusion.

3. Our hardened and stubborn egocentricity
Ingrained in our minds
Since beginningless time
Contaminates, defiles and pollutes
The environment that has
Come into being by the common karma Of all sentient beings.

4. Lakes and ponds have lost
Their clarity, their coolness
The atmosphere is poisoned
Nature's celestial canopy in the fiery firmament
Has burst asunder
And sentient beings suffer diseases
Unknown before.

5. Perennial Snow Mountains resplendent in their glory
Bow down and melt into water
The majestic oceans lose their ageless equilibrium
And inundate islands.

6. The dangers of tire, water and wind are limitless
Sweltering heat dries up our lush forests
Lashing our world with unprecedented storms
And the oceans surrender their salt to the elements.

7. Though people lack not wealth
They cannot afford to breathe clean air
Rains and streams cleanse not
But remain inert and powerless liquids.

8. Human beings and countless beings
That inhabit water and land
Reel under the yoke of physical pain
Caused by malevolent diseases.
Their minds are dulled
With sloth, stupor and, ignorance
The joys of the body and spirit
Are far, far away.

9. We needlessly pollute
The fair bosom of our mother earth
Rip out her trees to feed our short -sighted greed
Turning our fertile earth into a sterile desert.

10. The interdependent nature
Of the external phenomena
And being's inward nature
Described in tantras
Works on medicine and astronomy
Has verily been vindicated
By our present experience.

11. The earth is home to living beings
Equal and impartial to the moving and unmoving
Thus spoke the Buddha in truthful voice
With the great Earth as witness.

12. As a noble being recognizes the kindness
Of a sentient mother
And makes recompense for it
So the earth, the universal mother
Which nurtures equally
Should be regarded with affection and care.

13. Forsake wastage
Pollute not the clean, clear nature
Of the four elements
And destroy the well-being of people
But absorb yourself in actions
That are beneficial to all.

14. Under a tree was the great Saga Buddha born
Under a tree, he overcame passion
And attained enlightenment
Under two trees did he pass in Nirvana
Verily, the Buddha held the tree in great esteem.

15. Here, where Manjushri's emanation
Lama Tsongkhapa's body bloomed forth
Is marked by a sandal tree
Bearing a hundred thousand images of the Buddha.

16. Is it not well known
That some transcendental deities
Eminent local deities and spirits
Make their abode in trees?

17. Flourishing trees clean the wind
Help us breathe the sustaining air of life
They please the eye and soothe the mind
Their shade makes a welcome resting-place.

18. In Vinaya, the Buddha taught monks
To care for tender trees
From this, we learn the virtue
Of planting, of nurturing trees.

19. The Buddha forbade monks to cut
Cause others to cut living plants
Destroy seeds or defile the fresh green grass
Should this not inspire us
To love and protect our environment?

20. They say, in the celestial realms
Trees emanate the Buddha's blessings
And echo the sound
Of basic Buddhist doctrines
Like impermanence.

21. It is tree that brings rain
Trees that hold the essence of the soil
Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree,
Virtually resides on earth
To serve all purposes.

22. In times of yore
Our forebears ate the fruits of trees
Wore their leaves
Discovered fire by the attrition of wood
Took refuge amidst the foliage of trees
When they encountered danger.

23. Even in this age of science
Of technology
Trees provide us shelter
The chairs we sit in
The beds we lie on
When the heart is ablaze
With the fire of anger
Fueled by wrangling
Trees bring refreshing, welcome coolness.

24. In the trees lie the roars
Of all life on earth
When it vanishes
The land exemplified by the name
Of the Jambu tree
Will remain no more than a dreary, desolate desert.

25. Nothing is dearer to the living than life Recognizing this, in the Vinaya rules The Buddha lays down prohibitions Like the use of water with living creatures.

26. In the remoteness of the Himalayas In the days of yore, the land of Tibet Observed a ban on hunting, on fishing And, during designated periods, even construction. These traditions are noble For they preserve and cherish The lives of humble, helpless, defenseless creatures.

27. Playing with the lives of other beings
Without sensitivity or hesitation
As in the act of hunting or fishing for sport
Is an act of heedless, needless violence
A violation of the solemn rights
Of all living beings.

28. Being attentive to the nature
Of interdependence of all creatures
Both animate and inanimate
One should never slacken in one's efforts
To preserve and conserve nature's energy.

29. On a certain day, month and year, one should observe the ceremony
Of tree planting
Thus, one fulfills one's responsibilities
Serves one's fellow beings
Which not only brings one happiness
But benefits all.

30. May the force of observing that which is right
And abstinence from wrong practices and evil deeds
Nourish and augment the prosperity of the world.
May it invigorate living beings and help them blossom
May sylvan joy and pristine happiness
Ever increase, ever spread and encompass all that is.

—His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet